The “Tribeca” shipping agency reported that the cargo ship MKK 1, which was on its way from Ukraine to Turkey, ran aground in the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul today, Monday, which led to the suspension of navigation in the strait, but there were no reports of damage.
Tribeca said the Palau-flagged cargo ship ran aground at Acarburno at the northern end of the strait early Monday while heading south.
It also added that there were no reports of damage or spillage of the cargo.
Television footage showed the bow of the ship, which was carrying 13,000 tons of peas, stranded near the coast on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.
In turn, the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul, which manages the operations of the United Nations-brokered grain agreement, revealed at the weekend that the ship was heading from Bivdeni to the Turkish port of Mersin on the Mediterranean.
And he added that the rescue teams went there, to begin the operations to withdraw the pandemic ship.
Meanwhile, the Turkish authorities announced that they are trying to quickly restore navigation traffic in the strait.
Heavy fog
It is noteworthy that the Turkish authorities announced, last week, the suspension of ship traffic through the Bosphorus Strait, due to the thick fog in Istanbul.
Turkey announced a few months ago its intention to raise traffic fees across the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits five times, in accordance with the rights granted to it under the Montreux Convention.
It is noteworthy that the countries concerned decided last year to extend the grain export agreement, which aims to alleviate global food shortages by facilitating Ukraine’s agricultural exports from its southern ports on the Black Sea, for a period of 120 days.
The grain deal, reached beginning in July, provides a protected sea lane to alleviate global food shortages by allowing exports to resume from three ports in Ukraine, a major producer of grains and oilseeds.
This came following the decrease in shipments from Ukraine in the wake of the Russian military operation in February played a role in the global food price crisis this year, but there were also other important factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing climate shocks such as drought in both Argentina and the United States. United.
While Ukraine and Russia are major grain exporters in the world, Russia is the largest exporter of wheat in the world and a major exporter of fertilizers to global markets.
